Who should do the repairs in your new home?
DIY Home Repairs may not muster the approval of a home inspector, so plan carefully
Personally, I love working on my home, and I will tackle many jobs, but I have to admit that I have made a mess of things at times. If I am selling a home, I would always call in a professional to ensure that the job is done correctly. As an inspector, I have seen home handy man repairs which simply put a neon sign on the fact that I had to check on what is going wrong here, and that it might not be fixed. However, some jobs are handled well by the do-it-yourselfer (DIY). Think about your comfort level and knowledge level of the task at hand. If you believe you can handle it, then do so. When it comes to plumbing, electrical, HVAC, or structural work, I would recommend that you always use a proper professional, even when you are not selling the house. Why? You ask. Well, you are going to be living there, and you will not want further problems in the future. For example, a home I inspected had a nice deck, which had been built about five years ago, but I noticed that the columns had an earth to wood contact, which was starting to cause the deck’s support system to rot away. In a year or two there could be a collapsing deck. The deck was built by a professional according to the seller, who admitted finally that it was a relative who had built it. The relative was an appliance repair man, who had not fixed the dishwasher well either. This brings me to the point of a proper, or qualified, professional. Anyone can claim to be an expert, but making the claim does not make it true. Make sure that the person who is working on repairs in your home knows how to do the job right.
